Refrigerator



Jan. 27, 1942. w. '1'. HEDLUND REFRIGERATOR Filed Aug. 1o,l 1937 -u Irwnnl Patented Jan. .2"7,v 19442' REFRIGERATOR William T. Hedlund, NewRochelle, N. Y.,'assignor York, N. Y., a corporation to Servel, Inc.,New of Delaware vapplication August 1o, P1937, serial No. 158,444

(ci. cs2- 89) 4 Claims.

My invention relates to refrigerators, and more particularly to asliding food drawer or receptacle for use in a refrigerator storagecompartment.

` It is an object of my invention to provide an improvement for slidablysupporting a food drawer on the .underside of a solid refrigeratorshelf. I accomplish this by slidably supporting an' open top food drawerin such a manner that substantially an air-tight seal is effectedbetween Athe underside of the solid shelf and food drawer when thelatterl is positioned in a refrigerator storage compartment. Byproviding such an airtight seal, air in the storage compartment isprevented from flowing into and out of the food channels I8',areprovided with resilient. pads 2li which are formed of rubber or the likeand engage the side and rear walls of the storage space.

. The lateral side and rear wallsV of the storage drawer, whereby foodproducts may be stored.

in the drawer with substantially no dehydration taking place.A

The invention, together with the above and other obiects and advantagesthereof, willbe more fully understood from the following descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing forming a part ofthisspecification, and of which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator with the door thereofopen to illustrate an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a verticalsectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 3 to illustrate more clearlythe solid shelf and sliding food drawer shown in Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figs. 1 and2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional viewtaken on line 4-4 ofFig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view, partly broken away, toillustrate the manner in which the seal is effected at the front of thesolid shelf and sliding food drawer,

Referring to.Fig. 1, I have shown'my invention in connection with arefrigerator comprising a cabinet II) having a thermally insulatedstorage space II into which access may be had bya door I2. The storagespace is cooled by a c'ooling element orevaporator I3 of suitablerefrigeration apparatus. The storage space II is provided with aplurality of open shelves I4 and `a solid shelf I5 for supporting foodproducts to be preserved and kept ata low temperature.

space are provided with shelf supports 2|A upon which the short channelsI8 rest. The solid shelf I5 is smaller in cross-sectional area than thestorage space Il, so that air in the storage space will circulate andeffect cooling in the small compartment formed between the solid shelfand bottom of the storage space.

AIn accordance with my invention, the solid shelf I5 is constructed andarranged to slidably support a food drawer4 I6 on the underside thereofin such a manner that an air-tight seal is effected between the shelfand the drawer. I accomplish this by securing to the underside of shelfI5 three Z-shaped angle members 24. Two of theangle members 24 extendfrom `the front to the rear of theshelf and are parallel to the lateralsides thereof. The third angle member 24 extendsl across the rear of theshelf and connects the rear ends ofthe parallel angle members.

The rear ends of the parallel angle members and ends of the rear anglemember are beveled, as indicated at 29 in Fig. 3, so that the lowerflanges 23 of the angle members form a continuous ledge at the undersideof the solid shelf. The upper anges 22 of the angle members 24 aresecured t0 the underside of theshelf in any suitable manner, as bywelding or brazing, for example. The abutting ends of the angle membersare also united at 29 by welding or braz'ing.

The angle members 24 are of such size that' the lower horizontalflanges`23 are disposed in a4 plane below the 1ower ed'ge of the flangeI1 at the front `of the solid shelf. This provides' a small space 30, asshown most clearly in Fig. 5,

-for inserting the food drawer I6. into position on the underside of theshelf I5.

The solid shelf I5 is provided with a downward extending flange I'Iabout its periphery, and is supported in any suitable manner in thelower part of storage space II, As shown most clearly in Fig. 4, shortU-shaped channel members I8 may be secured by bolts I9 to the flange IIat the lateral and rear sides of the solid shelf. The

The food drawer I6 is provided'with an outward extending flange 25 atthe lateral side and rearwalls thereof. When the food drawer I6 isslidably moved into position at the frontof the solid shelf I5, the sideflanges 25 are moved through the'openings 30 between the lower edge ofange I1 and Iledge formed by the lower flanges 23 of the angle members24. By moving the food drawer I6 rearward until the rear flange 25'rests vupon the 1ower flange of the rear angle member 24, as shown mostclearly in Fig. 4, the food drawer is effectively sealed about theentire'supporting ledge formed by the angle mem.

bers 24. The front 26 of the food drawer I6 extends above and overlapsthe flange I1 at the forwardedge of the shelf I5, whereby the drawer iseffectively sealed on all sides at the underside of the shelf.

In order to improve the sealing effected at-the front 26 of the fooddrawer, a resilient gasket 2l formed of soft rubber or the like may lbewhen closed, said drawer having a front overlapping said ange, vand agasket to seal the front ofsaid drawer when it is in its closed positionon the underside of said shelf. v

3. A refrigerator having walls defining a food storage` space,refrigeration apparatus for cooling the'circulating air in said foodstorage space,

securedV to the inner surface of the front 26.

The gasket 21 extends across the front of the food drawer and is ofsufficient height at the ends, so that the spaces 30 are eil'ectivelysealed when the drawer I6 is moved rearward to its closed position.

The front 26 of the food drawer i6 is recessed and provided with ahandle 28 winch is` flush with the front of the4 drawer. When the fooddrawer I6 is positioned on the underside of the shelf I5, the drawer issupported entirely bythe shelf with the bottom of the drawer spaced fromthe bottom of the storage space Il, as shown most clearly in Fig. 2.

AlthoughI have shown andl described a particular embodiment of theinvention, it Will be apparent that changes and modifications may bemadewithout departing from the spirit 'and scope of the invention, aspointed out in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a refrigerator having a thermally insulated storage compartment,means for causing circulation of refrigerated air in said compartment, asolid shelf adapted to be supported in said compartment, said-shelfhaving a downward extending flange at the forward edge thereof, a fooddrawersaid drawer and shelf having cooperating means including structureto slidably support said food drawer on the underside of said she1f,said means cooperating so that air is prevented from flowing into -andout of said drawer at its sides and rearwhen it is closed, and saiddrawer having a front adapted to overlapy said ange when said drawer isin its closed position to seal thefront of said drawer.

2. In a refrigerator having a storage compartment, means for causingcirculation of refrig- `erated airin said compartment; a solid shelfadapted to be supportedI in saidcompartment, said shelf having adownward extending flange at the forward edge thereof, a food drawer,said drawer and shelf having cooperating means including structure toslidabiy support said food drawer on the underside of said shelf, saidmeans cooperating so that air is prevented from vflowing into and out ofthe sides and rear of said drawer.

and' wall members ldividing said food storage space into threecompartments, two of which have only restricted communication and thethird being completely sealed to the other two, said wall membersincluding a solid shelf forming a wall common to vall three compartmentsand supported in said food storage space with the edges of the shelfslightly spaced from the sides of the food storage space, said wallmembers 4also including an open top container, means for supporting saidcontainer beneath said shelf in a manner that the shelf forms a coverfor the container ta complete said third completely sealed compartment,said container supporting means comprising cooperating portions on theshelf and the container consisting of outwardly extending portions onthe container and inwardly extending portions .of the shelf, saidcooperating portions having a relatively .broad area of contact aroundthe major portion of the open top of the'container, the area of contactitself proedges of the shelf slightly spaced from the sides of the foodstorage space, said wall members also including an open top container,means for supporting said container beneath said shelf in a manner thatthe shelf forms a cover for the container to form said third completelysealed compartment, said container supporting means comprisingcooperating portions including outwardly turned flanges on oppositesides of the container.

and rearwardly turned flanges on the rear of the container, thecontainer and shelf having overlapping portions at the front forcompleting the seal.

, WILLIAM T. HEDLUND.

